MATCH INFO

Bulgaria's coach: This was only a small step, the big one is to come Saturday

Coach of Bulgaria Camilo Placci

Varna,
Bulgaria, July, 12, 2013 – Bulgaria is another step closer to the 2013 FIVB World
League Finals, after completing a fantastic performance against last year’s
World League gold medalists, Poland 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21).

“We made a
step forward to the Finals,” said Bulgaria’s coach Camilo Placi. “It was a
small step, but the most important is the last step. We played a good match. I
am sorry for Poland and Andrea Anastasi but I was here when he won last year in
Sofia. It was then when he surprised me with a present and gave me the
clipboard he used in the final match. I still keep it and it's a good memory,
but this is life - in sport you either win or lose. I hope we will play swell
tomorrow and win and write a new shiny page in Bulgarian volleyball history.”

Nearly 6,000
people at the match, including FIVB Vice President and CEV President Mr. Andre
Meyer, Members of FIVB Commissions and CEV Board, Bulgarian football legend
Hristo Stoichkov, mayor of Varna Ivan Portnih, members of local society elite.

“I want to
thank the crowd for the great support throughout the whole match,” said Todor
Aleksiev, captain of Bulgaria. “Nobody expected that we will play that good.
Our play in side-out and contra attack was fantastic and this really helped us
to win. Nevertheless we have to win tomorrow so to be sure that we will qualify
and we won't wait for others to do our job.”

With the
loss, Poland is out of the finals, and will focus their attention on Eurovolley
2013 after their last match on Sunday.

“Congratulations
to the Bulgarian team, they played very well,” said Marcin Mozdzonek, captain
of Poland. “I guess now the situation is clear and I hope that tomorrow we will
have a nice match.”

“Congratulations
to the Bulgarian team and to Camilo,” said Poland’s coach Andrea Anastasi. “I
am sad that we lost today. The Bulgarians played better in every part of the
game, and logically they won. To be honest, we do have to improve our play, and
complete our game system. We were bad throughout this World League, but I hope
we can add one more gold medal in Eurovolley 2013.”

More press releases

22.07.2013 21:36:55Canada jumps in rankings after World League performance
Lausanne, Switzerland, July 22, 2013 – The Canadian men’s national team’s exceptional performance in the 2013 FIVB World League has resulted in a seve...
More...

22.07.2013 04:29:34Every point was made of gold - Spiridonov
Mar del Plata, Argentina, July 21, 2013 - Alexey Spiridinov says 'every point was made of gold' as Russia overwhelmed Brazil 3-0 in the final match of...
More...